What I Learned from Taking In So Much Health Advice Content from Social Media
Do you think you need to establish a new eating lifestyle? Think again. I over consumed social media health advices and here’s what I learned.
Energy, strength and vitality have always been a goal of mine. When I embarked on practicing Yoga at home, my mental health and my energy positively improved. Over time, I have branched out to other forms of physical activities. I instantly fell in love with Pilates, and quite surprisingly, I realized that my body loves the challenge it gets from lifting weights.
On the nutrition side, I have found myself, over the years, seeking a lifestyle of eating that will support vitality, health and weight management. I know for a fact that diets are not my thing. So I tend to gravitate towards approach that are sustainable and not rigid. Also, dieting is not something I would like my daughters to do. Moreover, having a positive body image is important to me more than obsessing over physical appearance and numbers on the scale.
Social Media and My Health and Well-being
I will admit that social media can be quite “influencing”. Sometime without you knowing it, you are actually holding a standard against yourself in the area of fitness, physical appearance, career, relationships and more.
In these day and age when someone can post a picture of their perfect body, one can unknowingly judge themselves or the other person even without realizing it. Quite subtly, we hold those things we see on social media as our standards.
Social Media’s Non-Diet Approach to Health
Thankfully, diets are not in the limelight like it was years ago. These days, what I see on social media are more sustainable way of being “healthy” that are not diets.
Because I am into weight lifting and exercise these days, the accounts I follow will be all about increasing the intake of protein, fiber and taking in some supplements to promote over all health. Well, these are not bad at all. They are great actually.
However, I admittedly might have consumed so much of social media health advices and tips that I find myself less joyful, somehow untrue to myself and a little bit pressured.
In the end, I realized that even though a health approach is not a “diet”, it can also be taxing for my well-being and joy if it is not really aligned to your needs, your wants and to your personality over-all.
At the end of the day, you screen what you consume. Honestly I fell into the trap of taking so in so much content that is not really sustainable for me.
What I Learned from Taking In So Much Health Advice Content from Social Media
- I will eventually end up with expired food in my fridge that will be tossed out because I cannot really eat so much of them everyday. I like ricotta cheese but not to the extent that I can finish one tub before it expires. I love Greek Yogurt but somehow, I cannot force myself to eat more than half a cup in one sitting just because it has a high protein content.
- Following other’s system in eating will kill the enjoyment I always have with food and cooking. You see, I am a recipe developer. My main job is at my other site, Woman Scribbles. My passion in food , cooking and baking is one of my greatest joys. Eating and making food for the sole process of hitting daily requirements is just different. When I am free to cook what my body craves, I feel free, passionate and joyful and I missed that.
- Just like dieting, thinking about protein content, the fiber or the macros makes me end up obsessing about food all the time. At the start it will be fun and exciting to try a new regimen. Over time, it becomes exhausting and draining mentally. Food is fuel, yes. Food is medicine, yes. But food is also art. Food is also joy. It is all about finding balance and not neglecting one or the other aspect.
- I forget the body’s natural knowledge of knowing what to do. I think it is important to note here that you have to really know yourself. I know myself and I know that I do not really overeat. I indulge and let myself be over full from time to time, but overeating is not my norm. So if that’s the case, I just have to trust myself with regards to eating. If I seem I want to eat that cake for 3 days straight, I know that I will not want it for a full week.
My body knows when to stop. I let myself eat the cake, even if its 2-3 days in a row. Because I know, in the next coming days I will naturally crave something lighter, something more nourishing. I do not need to restrict myself.
I think its when one restricts the body from eating treats for long periods of time, that is when we will have the tendency to devour and overeat such treats without listening to the body. We deny the body, we drown its voice. It is pretty intelligent more than we know.
If I listen to my body and trust that it knows naturally what to do, then I don’t think I need to find “a system” that will support my health. Doing so, will make me obsess to the point that I do not feel free, joyful and authentic. I posted a similar topic about how to love yourself better.
Important Note
My main point here is that these social media advices we see everyday are not bad. They are really great. However, it is important to consider that every body is different and an approach, whether it is a diet or not, won’t really help you in a way that you expect, if it puts your eating lifestyle into a rigid box that does not feel like it belongs to you.
So if you think you are over consuming health advice content from social media , know this: You know what feels good to you. You know what foods you like, and you can tailor whatever information you consume to your own needs and happiness.
